Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Where in the world is Sarah Palin?

Well, over the next few weeks, she will be in:

Mi, In, Oh, Pa, Ny, Va, Nc, Al, Fl, Az, Nm, Mo, Ar, Ok, Tx, Ia, Sd, Mn, Mt, Co, Ut, Nv, and Id.

So what? She's on a book tour, she's bound to be all across the US. Of course. But look at just which states she's visiting, between them, these 23 states have enough Republican Delegates to carry the party nomination for President. Interesting. There's more: how do you suppose those 23 went in 2008? On the surface it's a pretty even split, especially considering Obama won: 13 states went for Obama, and 10 for McCain. Delving a bit deeper, however, one might notice that in 2008 Obama flipped 9 states that had gone for Bush in 2004. All 9 of these states are on the book tour. Now Sarah Palin might not be considering a presidential run in '12, or she might. I think she definitely needs to work on strengthening her policy credentials before she starts campaigning in earnest if she does decide to run. However, if she is contemplating a run, this book tour is a brilliant stroke, putting her in touch with exactly the type of grass roots people needed to do all of the on-the-ground work for a campaign, in a relaxed, "oh hey, howyadoin, goodtomeetcha, hope you like the book" atmosphere where Palin's natural friendliness and charisma are huge assets, a full year before such a campaign would begin in earnest. If she does decide to run, her primary opponents just might find themselves facing an energized, boots-on-the-ground, grass roots constituency eager to turn out for Sarah before they even get going, and they might find these people overrepresented in the red or traditionally red states crucial to winning the Republican nomination. Like I said, I dunno what Sarah Palin intends, but to steal a line from Artie Johnson..."Verrry interesting".